Wednesday, Feb. 14
Live Laugh Love
A comedy show can be a great way to deflate the pressure of a big Valentine’s Day night out while giving you ample opportunity to gauge your partner’s sense of humor and thus their worthiness as a mate. This marks the second annual installment of the V-Day showcase produced by the very funny Evelyn Jensen. She’s joined by local faves like Alyssa Yeoman and Olympia’s irrepressible Sam Miller. —Brett Hamil
High Dive
Wednesday, Feb. 14
LoveCityLove Opening Party
Seattle’s eclectic arts collective/open-door clubhouse/DIY mindstate takes one step closer to world domination tonight as they unveil their newest event space. Last fall LoveCityLove annexed the former Artificial Limb facility directly adjacent their current space on Madison; tonight they partner with fashion maven Tori Kirihara for a grand opening party featuring a dozen visual artists, DJs and live performances by UK soul singer Taliwhoah and Tacoma’s own Will Jordan. —Jonathan Zwickel
LoveCityLove
Wednesday, Feb. 14
Janel Kolby
Local poet and novelist Janel Kolby debuts her novel Winterfolk, the tale of a teen girl who’s lived with her dad in a Seattle homeless encampment for five years. When sweeps threaten the encampment, she ventures with a friend into the city, a place whose proximity affects her life but which is completely unfamiliar to her. —Sarah Galvin
Elliott Bay Book Company
Wednesday, Feb. 14
Bride of Chucky
If you’re one of those people who’ll extend a vigorous middle finger at the whole hearts-and-flowers thing this Wednesday, you could do worse than watching two homicidal dolls voiced by Brad Dourif and Jennifer Tilly kill people and fuck shit up. Just saying. —Tony Kay
Ark Lodge Cinemas
Thursday, Feb. 15
Adan Jodorowsky, Rudy De Anda
Adan Jodorowsky, son of cockeyed surrealist auteur Alejandro Jodorowsky, has explored piano pop and retro-dance grooves under the sorta-pseudonym of Adanowsky. His latest record, the all-Spanish Esencia Solar, is his most traditional, and it’s a sparkling little excursion into bossa nova, samba and folk territory that’ll likely warm up a dreary Seattle school night.
—Tony Kay
Sunset Tavern
Thursday, Feb. 15 – Saturday, Feb. 17
Bury Me Under I-5
Playwright and shadow-puppetmaster Scot Augustson returns to Theatre off Jackson with a brand-new show about lost souls Chicken Jenny and Minky and “hard living in today’s Seattle,” brought to life with old-timey radio show-style voices and sound effects created live on stage. If you like your art wildly entertaining with stealth emotional impact, you’ll want to check this out. Runs through March 10. —Gemma Wilson
Theatre off Jackson
Saturday, Feb. 17
Chapbook Launch Reading for Xandria Phillips’s “Reasons for Smoking”
Cave Canem and Callalloo fellow Xandria Phillips reads from her new chapbook “Reasons for Smoking,” selected by Claudia Rankine as winner of the 2016 Seattle Review chapbook contest. She’ll be reading in the excellent company of Quenton Baker (author of This Glittering Republic) and Winter Tangerine editor Sarah Maria Medina. —Sarah Galvin
Open Books
Saturday, Feb. 17
Derrick Carter
If R&B can claim “throwbacks” the way Boomers claim “oldies,” then we need a cool term for electronic dance music of a certain age. The guy to ask is Derrick Carter, one of the veterans of Chicago house, whose soulful, upbeat style subsumes funk, disco, jazz and hip-hop. Tonight he plays an open-to-close set to celebrate Kremwerk’s four-year anniversary. Wear comfy shoes. —Jonathan Zwickel
Kremwerk